Rare win at 9 ball

I rarely post about my pool play because it is so miserable. I've had a pool table for about 10 years now and I honestly think I am as bad now as I was 10 years earlier.

My Brother almost always beats me at pool. Nine ball is our game. We typically play a set where the winner has to win either 4 games, 5 games or 7 games. On holidays we may play 2 or 3 sets.

When I say Roger often beats me at pool ... it is like 9 times out of ten or even worse (for me).

I had a rare win yesterday. He was up 1 game to zero. I matched him. Then he was up 2 games to 1 and I again matched him. Then he was up 3 games to 2 and I won the next 3 games.

The final game, I had a 8-9 combo to win the game.

Afterward, Kathee served up an ad-hoc dessert. She had some ice cream bars. She put them on a plate and added a cherry sauce. Brother thanked Kathee for the "cheese cake". Fooled him!

Heresy to believe in a personal salvation

Katherine Jefferts Schiori of the ECUSA: Opening Remarks

Excerpt:

The overarching connection in all of these crises has to do with the great Western heresy – that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God. It’s caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus. That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy, at the center of existence, as the ground of being. That heresy is one reason for the theme of this Convention.

Ubuntu doesn’t have any “I”s in it. The I only emerges as we connect – and that is really what the word means: I am because we are, and I can only become a whole person in relationship with others. There is no “I” without “you,” and in our context, you and I are known only as we reflect the image of the one who created us. Some of you will hear a resonance with Martin Buber’s I and Thou and recognize a harmony. You will not be wrong.

I said that this crisis has several elements related to that heretical and individualistic understanding. We’ve touched on one – how we keep this earth, meant to be a gift to all God’s creatures. The financial condition of the nations right now is another element. The sins of a few have wreaked havoc with the lives of many, as greed and dishonesty have destroyed livelihoods, educational possibilities, care for the aged, and multiple forms of creativity – and that’s just the aftermath of Ponzi schemes for which a handful will go to jail. If we want to be faithful, we need to be continually rediscovering that my needs are not the only significant ones. Ubuntu implies that selfishness and self-centeredness cannot long survive. We are our siblings’ knowers and their keepers, and we cannot be known without them – we have no meaning, no true existence in isolation. We shall indeed die as we forget or ignore that reality.

Rev. Peg Chemberlin, Executive Director, Minnesota Council of Churches: Great Western heresy -- that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God?

Excerpt:

This week the Episcopal Church in America is having their national convention. The presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori opened with an address that is causing a great deal of conversation. She said, “the great Western heresy – is that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God. It's caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus. That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy, at the center of existence, as the ground of being. That heresy is one reason for the theme of this Convention.”

Now her statement is being interpreted by the backlash as if she were saying that we will be saved by the Church or by our social advocacy. I don’t see that there. I see her saying that God is in the center, that God is the deliverer of salvation (as well as reconciliation, redemption and re-creation) and that we cannot do anything except to choose, or not, to open our heart to God’s saving grace in our lives.

What the speech does is raise issue with some of the emphasis that we have seen in, what we have come to call, a more ‘evangelistic’ approach. So let us wade into the discussion and let’s start with the question so often asked by this personal approach. “Do you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?”

If this question intends to encourage folks to make a very personal, deeply centered decision to trust in the Love of God, then, this is a good question to be asked and answered. If this question means, that the relationship is a personal one only and has nothing to do with the world and society than I must agree with the presiding bishop it represents a heresy. For those of us who are Christians, we have too often been invited to stand at the foot of the cross to see how much Jesus loves us, but we are far too rarely asked to look around and see who else is standing there, realizing we are in this together. We have far too often been led to ignore the other crosses on the hill. If we ignore the crosses of the world we are ignoring the ones God loves. We are far too rarely asked to note the others who are choosing to embrace that God’s love is for everyone, even those who aren’t standing at the foot of the cross.

Comment: Consider the source! False prophets!

Cats purr when hungry .... Duh!

Happy or hungry? Cats can use their purrs to send either message, an acoustical study suggests

Excerpt:

A cat's purr normally says, "I'm happy." But a new study suggests some purrs send cat owners a much different message: "Feed me!"

Researchers found that purrs of hungry cats included a higher-pitched sound, somewhat like a cry or meow. They played recordings of these purrs from 10 cats to 50 human volunteers. Even people who'd never owned a cat found them to be more urgent and less pleasant than contented purrs from the same animals.

The wet food routine: Our cats at feeding time (when we get home from work!): Emily is generally in the den window as if looking for us to arrive. As we pull into the garage she darts into the kitchen. I'm normally the first one in the house as Kathee is getting the mail. As I disarm the alarm system, Emily darts from the kitchen to the Living Room. The other two (Blue and Daisy) assemble in the hallway. Kathee comes in the house and all three cats are in the kitchen. Blue stands stoically awaiting to be fed. Emily darts here and there all excited. Daisy runs around the kitchen island. Sometimes from the kitchen through the L/R and in from the other kitchen entrance (a large circle). When Daisy is near Blue she head butts his chest. It's quit a scene.

The weekend wet food routine: About the same except Emily starts meowing pitifully at about 2:30. Kathee will get up and move to the kitchen, other cats dash in there. Then same as the above.

The empty dry food dish routine: We wake up. Three cats looking at us ... "feed me". Kathee walks to the kitchen ... three cats follow closely behind her!

Hwy 169 / Hwy 81 completion date Fall 2011

Devil's Triangle traffic plan hits snag

Excerpt:

... the Devil's Triangle work -- which involves rebuilding the intersection of 85th Avenue, Hwy. 169 and County Road 81 -- isn't scheduled for completion until the fall of 2011.

Comment: I blogged on this earlier here. I don't go this way often but it is the closest messy highway area to my home. (Hwy 169 at 494 is another)

Cap and Trade: The Musical

Social Security: Take it now or wait

Collect Now, or Later? Timing Your Social Security Benefits

Excerpt:

You can claim Social Security any time from age 62 to 70, but the longer you wait, the larger your monthly check. And many people come out ahead if they wait at least until their full retirement age, which is different from the day you stop working for good. For people born 1943 to 1954, full retirement age is 66, and it creeps up for younger people.

What do you stand to lose by taking benefits early? Take those who are set to receive $1,000 a month at their full retirement age. If they sign up for benefits at age 62, they will collect only $750. But if they wait until 70, they will earn extra credit and receive up to $1,320 a month — nearly a third more.

At first glance, it seems that everyone should wait until they are 70. But that is not the case. The answer depends on many factors, including when you stop working, how much you have in savings, whether you are healthy, whether you are married or single and whether your spouse earns more — or less.

Comment: Nice graphic with the article. More on issue below:

Paying Back Social Security: Does It Make Sense?

It sounds far-fetched, but repaying the government for the Social Security benefits you’ve already received may boost your monthly income. Here’s how it works:

Say you retired and began receiving Social Security benefits at age 62. You’re now 70. You can repay the money you’ve already received and then reapply for Social Security. Because you’re older, your new checks will be larger every month.

For example, say you’ve been receiving $13,250 annually. You’ll have to repay $94,556, but your yearly benefit would rise by $7,443 to $20,693. You’d recoup your initial outlay just before you turn 83.

Moreover, you’re not required to pay any interest on the benefits you’ve already received. “That’s the key,” says Larry Kotlikoff, professor of economics at Boston University. Paying back the government and restarting your Social Security is similar to purchasing an annuity—spending a sum of money now for guaranteed income in the future. However, because you don’t have to repay interest on the benefits you’ve received, and there are no fees, this tends to be less expensive than buying an annuity.

Comment: The above idea was the discussion among my retirement aged relatives this week. Interesting ... take a benefit at 62 .... if you can pay it back at 66, do it and get a higher benefit.

The Obama Stimulus: Predictions vs. Reality

The US should pull out of Washington, DC

An interesting letter in the Australian Shooter Magazine this week, which I quote:

"If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theater of operations during the past 22 months, and a total of 2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington, DC is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period.

That means you are about 25 per cent more likely to be shot and killed in the US capital, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the US , than you are in Iraq ..

Conclusion: The US should pull out of Washington, DC."

Comment: From Brother

Further commment .... note I labeled this humor

Someone took it too seriously here.

Batesville Casket source of MJ casket

Batesville Casket is coy about starring role in Jackson funeral

Excerpt:

An Indiana company was center stage at pop superstar Michael Jackson's funeral this week with a product no one could miss: a gleaming golden casket, shined to a mirror finish.

Batesville Casket, the world's largest maker of caskets, provided the luxurious Promethean model, which traditionally comes with a deep-blue velvet interior.

Like Jackson, the casket is extravagant and showy. And it was front and center at Jackson's service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which millions watched live on television.

Comment: My Sister-in-Law told me about this.

A Supremely stunning admission

Justice Ginsburg Says She Originally Thought Roe v. Wade Was Designed to Limit 'Populations That We Don’t Want to Have Too Many Of'

Excerpt:

Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. Frankly, I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into abortions when they didn’t really want them. But when the Court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong.”

Comment: You would think that Ginburg, being a Jew!, would find that comment appallingly Nazi-like! Per this website: "Several years ago, when 17,000 aborted babies were found in a dumpster outside a pathology laboratory in Los, Angeles, California, some 12-15,000 were observed to be black. Minority women constitute only about 13% of the female population (age 15-44) in the United States, but they underwent approximately 36% of the abortions. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, black women are more than 5 times as likely as white women to have an abortion. On average, 1,876 black babies are aborted every day in the United States."

100 Trillion Dollar notes from Zimbabwe

Comment: Speaking of money! Currently bidding on these on Ebay! The real future of US Money .... hyperinflation!

United Future World Currency

Medvedev sees single currency dream in G8 coin gift

Excerpt:

Even if Russia's call for a global currency failed to gain much traction at a G8 summit, President Dmitry Medvedev took home a coin meant to symbolize that the dream may one day come true.

The Russian leader proudly displayed the coin, which bears the English words "United Future World Currency", to journalists after the summit wrapped up in the quake-hit Italian town of L'Aquila.

Medvedev said that although the coin, which resembled a euro and featured the image of five leaves, was just a gift given to leaders it showed that people were beginning to think seriously about a new global currency.

"In all likelihood something similar could appear and it could be held in your hand and used as a means of payment," he told reporters. "This is the international currency."

futureworldcurrency.com

Excerpt:

he world in a coin. This is our vision, our hope. It is a necessity and a challenge. What seems an impossible dream becomes an inevitable historic, economic and social process. It is an event which is intertwined with the fate of human evolution.

A single currency becomes the premise for an increasingly global planet. A virtual currency capable of speaking a single, comprehensible language to foster humankind's innate desire to go farther, to surpass boundaries, and move towards true principles of peace, freedom, brotherhood and understanding beyond issues of race, political and religious beliefs and party interests.

We are presenting the peoples of nations, governments, institutions, intellectuals, ordinary people, pragmatists and idealists, scholars and, above all, young people - the real protagonists of the future - with a simple, ingenuous yet determined long-term vision for building an ideal bridge with tomorrow and interpreting a dream to transform into reality.

In this program, currency yet again assumes the principle goal which it has had since its invention centuries ago: to facilitate and codify human commercial and social exchange. And become a form of pure "communication" between different peoples - a communication of ideas, ideals, information and culture. This constitutes progress, development and well being.

Comment: A gift coin for the G8 summit. Harbinger? Read The Long Path at the site above: "there is great hope and expectation that truly, one day not too far from now, even if only partially at first, the world really can be “United by a Coin”."

Going off to camp?

Political opposition is not a hate crime

Excerpt:

Rep. Alcee Hastings - the impeached Florida judge Nancy Pelosi tried to install as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee until her own party members rebelled - introduced an amendment to the defense authorization bill that gives Attorney General Eric Holder sole discretion to label groups that oppose government policy on guns, abortion, immigration, states' rights, or a host of other issues. In a June 25 speech on the House floor, Rep. Trent Franks, R-AZ, blasted the idea: "This sounds an alarm for many of us because of the recent shocking and offensive report released by the Department of Homeland Security which labeled, arguably, a majority of Americans as 'extremists.'"

Another Hastings bill (HR 645) authorizes $360 million in 2009 and 2010 to set up "not fewer than six national emergency centers on military installations" capable of housing "a large number of individuals affected by an emergency or major disaster." But Section 2 (b) 4 allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to use the camps "to meet other appropriate needs" - none of which are specified. This is the kind of blank check that Congress should never, ever sign.

It's not paranoid to be extremely wary of legislation that would give two unelected government officials power to legally declare someone a "domestic terrorist" and send them to a government-run camp. After all, the federal government has done exactly this sort of thing before. During World War II, more than 120,000 law-abiding Japanese Americans were rounded up by the government and confined for four years in ten internment camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. Joy Kogawa chronicled the trauma her family experienced firsthand under FDR's executive order: "Families were made to move in two hours. Abandoned everything, leaving pets and possessions at gun point..."

Comment: Not the kind of camp you were expecting! More on Japanese American internment (officially "United States Executive Order 9066")

Dems debate: "an American legend" OR "pervert & pedophile"

Pelosi shuts down resolution on Michael Jackson

Excerpt:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shut the door Thursday to a resolution honoring Michael Jackson because debate on the symbolic measure could raise "contrary views" about the pop star's life.

Lawmakers are free to use House speeches "to express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "I don't think it's necessary for us to have a resolution."

A resolution sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, cites some of the singer's charitable acts and proclaims him an American legend, musical icon and world humanitarian.

Even before Pelosi's comments, some Democrats said privately they did not support the resolution and a divisive debate would hurt House efforts to muster the votes for priorities such as health care and climate change.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who posted a video on YouTube calling Michael Jackson a "pervert" and a "pedophile," has pledged to do all he could to block the resolution.

Michael Jackson was acquitted in 2005 of charges that he molested a 13-year-old boy. Those allegations, and his admission that children slept in his bed at his home but nothing sexual occurred, have led some members of Congress to put distance between themselves and any formal honor for the entertainer.

"A resolution, I think, would open up to contrary views to — that are not necessary at this time to be expressed in association with a resolution whose purpose is quite different," Pelosi said at a Capitol Hill news conference where she discussed various legislative matters.

Unbowed, Jackson Lee said she will seek support from colleagues who thanked her when she introduced the measure June 26, one day after Michael Jackson died. She said honorary resolutions don't often "pass the next day."

"On this floor we elevate people and doing that we have to work to tell your story," she said after a House vote. But she would need support from Democratic leadership for the resolution to advance to the full House from the committee where it is now.

When members of the Congressional Black Caucus held a moment of silence in the House after Jackson died June 25, some lawmakers walked out of the chamber.

Advice: Ignore this nonsense and read the bills you are passing before you vote on them!

Israel's MAD doctrine

Netanyahu adviser raises "MAD" nuclear scenario

Excerpt:

Israel must have "tremendously powerful" weapons to deter a nuclear attack or destroy an enemy that dares to launch an atomic strike, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted on Thursday as saying.

National security adviser Uzi Arad, in comments to Haaretz newspaper, appeared to allude to what is widely believed to be Israel's own nuclear arsenal and a standing policy of "mutually assured destruction" (MAD). He warned other countries they could bring about their own devastation if they launched an attack.

Israel has never confirmed it has atomic arms.

In excerpts on Haaretz's English-language website of an interview to be published on Friday, Arad said he feared that if Iran became a nuclear power, five or six other states in the Middle East would follow suit. He called such a prospect a "nightmare" for Israel.

"The defensive might we have must be improved and become tremendously powerful, and create a situation in which no one will dare to realise the ability to harm us," Arad said.

"And if they do dare, we will exact a full price, so that they too will not survive."

Comment: MAD = Mutually assured destruction

Tire "born on" date

U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number

Excerpt:

This begins with the letters "DOT" and indicates that the tire meets all federal standards. The next two numbers or letters are the plant code where it was manufactured, and the last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. For example, the numbers 3197 means the 31st week of 1997. The other numbers are marketing codes used at the manufacturer's discretion. This information is used to contact consumers if a tire defect requires a recall.

Comment: I understand that the tire born on date in only on the inside of a tire. Because of our blow out yesterday, again buying a couple of tires.

Antigo Wisconsin trip

Kathee and I took a brief overnight trip to Antigo Wisconsin on Tuesday and Wednesday. We worked half a day Tuesday and left from work just after noon.

We packed so fast that I forgot my camera but I did manage 5 pics from my cell phone.

Pics # 1 & 2: The farm house where Kathee was born (in Mattoon Wisconsin). Comments: New since Kathee's family sold the place (1956): Front porch, double garage.

Pic # 3: Gravestone of Kathee's grandparents in the Mattoon cemetery: GrandFather Edward died in 1940, and GrandMother Clara died in 1959.

Pic # 4: Flat tire in Thorp. We hit something and the air escaped very fast. We pulled into a church parking lot and called roadside assistance

Pic # 5: Church sign of the Mennonite church. We rested in the shade of the old church. Church sign has quote from KJV Revelation 22:17, "Let him that is athirst come"

Banks to CA: No more I.O.U.'s

Big Banks Don't Want California's IOUs

Excerpt:

A group of the biggest U.S. banks said they would stop accepting California's IOUs on Friday, adding pressure on the state to close its $26.3 billion annual budget gap.

The development is the latest twist in California's struggle to deal with the effects of the recession. After state leaders failed to agree on budget solutions last week, California began issuing IOUs -- or "individual registered warrants" -- to hundreds of thousands of creditors. State Controller John Chiang said that without IOUs, California would run out of cash by July's end.

But now, if California continues to issue the IOUs, creditors will be forced to hold on to them until they mature on Oct. 2, or find other banks to honor them. When the IOUs mature, holders will be paid back directly by the state at an annual 3.75% interest rate. Some banks might also work with creditors to come up with an interim solution, such as extending them a line of credit, said Beth Mills, a California Bankers Association spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, on Monday morning, a budget meeting between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders failed to produce a result. Amid the budget deadlock, Fitch Ratings on Monday dropped California's bond rating to BBB, down from A minus, the latest in a series of ratings downgrades for the state.

The group of banks included Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., among others. The banks had previously committed to accepting state IOUs as payment. California plans to issue more than $3 billion of IOUs in July.

Ms. Mills of the CBA said some banks were concerned that there aren't processes in place to accept IOUs, and also worried about fraud issues. She noted that not all banks have set a July 10 deadline, and that dozens of credit unions in the state will keep accepting IOUs.

Wells Fargo's head of community banking, Lisa Stevens, said: "We're very disappointed, as are many Californians, that California has taken the unfortunate step of issuing IOUs in lieu of payments to some businesses and individuals."

Comment: Time to pay for that hamburger today!

More Cowbell?

Obama Adviser Says U.S. Should Mull Second Stimulus

Excerpt:

The U.S. should consider drafting a second stimulus package focusing on infrastructure projects because the $787 billion approved in February was “a bit too small,” said Laura Tyson, an adviser to President Barack Obama.

The current plan “will have a positive effect, but the real economy is a sicker patient,” Tyson said in a speech in Singapore today. The package will have a more pronounced impact in the third and fourth quarters, she added, stressing that she was speaking for herself and not the administration.

Tyson’s comments contrast with remarks made two days ago by Vice President Joe Biden and fellow Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee, who said it was premature to discuss crafting another stimulus because the current measures have yet to fully take effect. The government is facing criticism that the first package was rolled out too slowly and failed to stop unemployment from soaring to the highest in almost 26 years.

Obama said last month that a second package isn’t needed yet, though he expects the jobless rate will exceed 10 percent this year. When Obama signed the first stimulus bill in February, his chief economic advisers forecast it would help hold the rate below 8 percent.

Unemployment increased to 9.5 percent in June, the highest since August 1983. The world’s largest economy has lost about 6.5 million jobs since December 2007.

Reference: More Cowbell!.

Comment: The first stimulus package package hasn't done much other than push up the National debt!

California wimp out

Comment: Do many of my readers remember the Wimpy character of the Popeye cartoons? This slovenly slacker was known for his line, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today". More on J. Wellington Wimpy and some of his other famous lines here. Note the use of Wimpy in the following article.

California’s Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics

Excerpt:

Last week, we discovered that the state of California will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

With California mired in a budget crisis, largely the result of a political impasse that makes spending cuts and tax increases impossible, Controller John Chiang said the state planned to issue $3.3 billion in IOU’s in July alone. Instead of cash, those who do business with California will get slips of paper.

The California morass has Democrats in Washington trembling. The reason is simple. If Obama’s health-care plan passes, then we may well end up paying for it with federal slips of paper worth less than California’s. Obama has bet everything on passing health care this year. The publicity surrounding the California debt fiasco almost assures his resounding defeat.

It takes years and years to make a mess as terrible as the California debacle, but the recipe is simple. All that you need is two political parties that are always willing to offer easy government solutions for every need of the voters, but never willing to make the tough decisions necessary to finance the government largess that results. Voters will occasionally change their allegiance from one party to the other, but the bacchanal will continue regardless of the names on the office doors.

California has engaged in an orgy of spending, but, compared with our federal government, its legislators should feel chaste. The California deficit this year is now north of $26 billion. The U.S. federal deficit will be, according to the latest numbers, almost 70 times larger.

The federal picture is so bleak because the Obama administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the U.S. I would imagine that he would be the intergalactic champion as well, if we could gather the data on deficits on other worlds. Obama has taken George W. Bush’s inattention to deficits and elevated it to an art form.

And what it may look like:

US lurching towards 'debt explosion' with long-term interest rates on course to double

Excerpt:

In a 2003 paper, Thomas Laubach, the US Federal Reserve’s senior economist, calculated the impact on long-term interest rates of rising fiscal deficits and soaring national debt. Applying his assumptions to the recent spike in the US fiscal deficit and national debt, long-term interests rates will double from their current 3.5pc.

The impact would be devastating by making it punitively expensive to finance national borrowings and leading to what Tim Congdon, founder of Lombard Street Research, called a “debt explosion”. Mr Laubach’s study has implications for the UK, too, as public debt is soaring. A US crisis would have implications for the rest of the world, in any case.